Only Two
by the Oracle of Akemi
Summary: The Greek demigods have left on the Argo II to go and find Percy, but there still is a quest or two for Camp Half-Blood. But on the quest, the chosen three mess up. Badly. It may effect the Final Battle. Can they fix it? INCLUDES MANY CANON CHARACTERS Adapted from LetheTree's 'Only Two' (with permission) ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1- Just Great

**As you guys know, I'm the Oracle of Akemi, and I'm taking over LetheTree's 'Only Two.' I hope you like my adaption.**

 **So, yeah, enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter One- Just Great

"Alena Brandi! Just what do you think you're doing young lady?" a loud, stern voice broke into the fourteen year old girl's train of thought.

Alena started with shock, and dropped her pencil miserably, looking up from her crowded sketchbook, hidden under the small, cramped school desk. "N-nothing sir."

He mumbled something under his breath (Alena caught the words 'god' and 'always' she filled in the blanks- God! That girl is always so troublesome!) before continuing his boring maths lesson.

Alena was sick of Mr. Clampire telling her off, he did every day often humiliating her in front of her class and in front of her only friend Pam Mackenzie. She longed for the shrill sound of the school bell, signalling the end of her torture.

A loud crack of thunder made her jump again, earning her several odd looks. Alena tried to still her shaking body (thunder and lightning terrified her!) but her ADHD just wouldn't allow it.

Finally, the bell rang and Mr. Clampire called good bye.

"Good afternoon Mr. Clampire." The class chimed back lazily.

He gave a short nod in approval, glared at Alena and dismissed the class.

Alena gathered her cheap, worn things and rushed out the door into pouring rain to make it to her bus in time. She made it just in time and clambered on, luckily finding a seat near the back on the crowded transportation vehicle. Alena brought out her sketchbook again and started to draw what she dreamt about the night before.

She started with the outline of a slim female and filled in details of shoulder length ebony hair styled so it fell over one eye and dark eyes framed by long eyelashes, a sprinkle of freckles and black clothes. When the bus stopped again, Alena had a very good picture, she was very proud of it.

The doors swung open, letting a breath of cold air fill the bus with a sudden chill. A girl about Alena's age climbed on, she had a disgruntled appearance which gave Alena the idea that the girl had just been chased down a steep hill. A grey hood shielded the girl's features, and she looked around for a seat.

Alena gestured for the girl to join her, for there appeared to be no other seats. Alena offered the girl the window seat. The girl gracefully slid into the offered seat, and her ragged breaths seemed to confirm Alena's earlier speculation.

"I'm Alena Brandi." Alena said in her kindest voice. The girl didn't reply and Alena could imagine that she was being looked at strangely.

The girl sighed. She removed her hood. "I'm Jade Willow."

She then turned and looked at the window into the darkening landscape, and didn't seem to notice that Alena had stopped breathing.

Alena couldn't believe it. "Y-you…"

Jade looked at her expectantly. "Yes?"

Alena held her sketch pad up to Jade's face. The two girls were almost identical.

There was no doubt about it. Jade Willow was the girl from her dream.

* * *

Jade sighed, and turned her head away from the stuttering girl. She remembered why she was on the bus in the first place.

 _Jade was practicing her archery when a flash of lightning hit the ground just in front of her. She cursed, and jumped back, well aware that she could have died._

 _She took aim again and noticed a boy with sandy blond hair and blue eyes staring at her creepily. Jade freaked and nearly shot the boy._

 _"Hi! My name is Isaac and I think you need to come with me."_

 _"What the hell?! Get out of the target range you idiot!" she yelled._

 _Isaac shrugged. He took a step towards her. Jade backed away, before starting to run full speed down the hill, leaving the boy staring stupidly after her._

 _Jade didn't know who the boy really was, but no way was she going to find out. She only turned around once, to see Isaac following her at a slow pace._

There's a bus stop at the bottom of this hill. _She thought._ I'll be able to lose him there.

 _A bus came around the corner in the nick of time, and Jade pulled her hood up over her face and boarded the bus._

I've lost him. _Jade thought happily._ Now I just need to find a seat.

 _Thankfully, a girl that looked about her age waved her over, and she took the offered seat. The only problem was, Alena- the girl had introduced herself- had something about her… Eyes? Hair? Body? Aura? That made Jade feel uncomfortable._

Jade exhaled heavily and reassured herself it was just an itch.

Eventually, all the people around her disappeared off the bus. Jade wished that she could move to a different seat now, but Alena (who probably didn't realise it) had her cornered against the window.

"Um, Jade?" Alena asked cautiously, seeming suddenly afraid of Jade, for some reason that eluded the dark-haired girl.

"What?" Jade half-snapped.

"Uh, this is the last stop if you don't want to go strawberry picking." Alena explained. "You know, at the fields? You get off here don't you?"

Jade sighed again. "I suppose…"

She looked out the dark windows, trying to spot messy shape of Isaac, the creep who she almost shot. When Jade saw no one except silhouettes of family's through curtains in nearby houses, she released a third sigh, one of relief.

The door creaked open and Alena stood, moving towards the front of the bus. Jade followed, noticing how annoyingly tiny the aisle was, now that she wasn't being stalked.

The rain had cleared mostly away, but Jade could still see a bit of lightning near the horizon.

Then, another stroke of lightning hit near Jade's feet.

"Again!" yelled Jade. "What is wrong with the sky?!"

Alena screamed. "We could have died Jade!"

The result was the two girls got soaked by a sudden day-shower of rain.

When Jade rubbed the water out of her brown eyes, she stood face to face with two people. Alena and Isaac!

"Now come on Jade!" Isaac pleaded, he must have heard Alena yell Jade's name. "Just come with me."

* * *

 **So… How was the first chapter of Only Two? I really would like to know what you thought. Please, please review!**

 **Even if you don't review, it means a lot to me that you read this anyway, so thanks (but don't let that stop you! _Please?_ )**

 **~the Oracle of Akemi~**


	2. Chapter 2- The Creep

**Welcome to chapter two!**

* * *

Chapter Two- The Creep

Alena stared at the boy. Who was he? What did he want with Jade?

"Why should she go with you?" Alena demanded, glaring at him. "She doesn't know you! And it's my fault that you know her name!"

The boy sighed. "I don't want you to get in the way, so move please."

Alena's glare intensified. Jade made no move at all to go with him.

"Look." Jade started. "I don't know you as she said. I'm not going anywhere with you. And I don't know why you'd want to go with me, I almost shot you!"

This sentence made Alena wonder who Jade really was. Did she own a gun?! Alena hadn't seen her in the area before.

The boy frowned. He looked at Alena, then shrugged. "I didn't want to use force."

He pulled out of his pocket a… long golden sword.

Jade's eyes widened. "What are you-?"

Alena jerked. "He's got a sword! Where's my phone!?"

She rummaged through her bag.

The boy suddenly looked nervous. "You don't see a fork do you?"

Alena frowned, as she drew out her new iPhone. (It had taken her ages to convince her mother to buy it for her.) "Why wouldn't I?!"

Alena punched in the number for the police. "Hello? I want- hey!"

The boy and Jade had lunged simultaneously at Alena, knocking her phone into a puddle.

"You ruined my phone!"

Jade now looked worried too.

The boy was pulling at the collar of his shirt. "Plans changed, Jade, you?"

"Alena." Supplied the said girl.

"Jade, Alena, you both need to come with me." He smiled. "I'm Isaac Bebe by the way."

Isaac made a hand gesture, and started to jog. Neither of the girls followed. "Look, I…"

He was cut off by a car which pulled up near them. The door opened to reveal Mr. Clampire.

"Uh, sir?" Isaac asked cautiously. "We don't know you."

Mr. Clampire snarled. "Nice try, Bebe."

Isaac's eyes widened. "Wow, you've really out done yourself Mormo."

Alena gasped. "Isaac! Don't call Mr. Clampire by his first name! You may not go to our school, but it's still disrespectful!"

"So he's at your school." Isaac turned to Jade. "Do you know him?"

"I've never seen him before in my life creep." She answered.

Isaac groaned. "This is just getting harder and harder. Look, Mormo, these girls are mine."

Mr. Clampire sneered. "No, Bebe. They're _mine._ "

Alena just glared at the two. They were trying to take possession of them! How rude!

"Just drop the act Mormo." Isaac sighed eventually. "You may as well die ugly."

Alena gasped. _Isaac is going to kill my teacher!_

Mr. Clampire grinned. "If you wish, demigod!"

Ripples flew over his skin, turning it grey and wrinkly. Mr. Clampire's thin, wiry hair slurped into his skull and his eyes became slits. From his mouth protruded a pair of fangs.

Mr. Clampire lunged at Isaac inhumanely fast, and the battle started between two weirdos Alena disliked.

* * *

Jade stared at the events taking place in front of her. _Should I help? Nope._

Alena sneaked up to her. "Let's go."

Jade nodded. "While they're busy."

The two girls started to sneak away when both Mr. Clampire or Mormo (whichever, Jade didn't really care) and Isaac looked at them.

Mr. Clampire stopped lashing at Isaac and lunged at the two girls.

"MINE!" he shrieked. "FRESH DEMIGODS!"

Suddenly, the teacher exploded in a shower of golden dust which drenched the two.

Isaac stood in front of them, panting, sword held threateningly. "Come with me."

Jade crossed her arms. "No."

Alena looked unsure. "What did you do to Mr. Clampire?"

Isaac sighed. "They always react like that. Alena, Jade, Mr. Clampire was what you guys would call a vampire."

Jade snickered. "Yeah right creep."

"It's true!" protested Isaac. "Except he wasn't quite a vampire. Vampires don't exist. Do either of you know anything about Greek Mythology?"

"I do." Jade murmured.

Alena nodded. "Just a bit."

"Have either of you heard of Mormo?" Isaac asked. "You know, child eating demon?"

Jade and Alena had blank looks on their faces.

Isaac rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Lamia?"

"I know that one." Jade said.

"Well, Mormo's like a male Lamia, in a way." Isaac explained.

"And how is Mr. Clampire a demon? And why did you kill him?" Alena questioned.

Isaac looked at the two of them. "Because he was trying to kill you. Have either of you thought you were different?"

Alena nodded thoughtfully.

Jade remained still and silent.

"You have, haven't you?" Isaac asked, the question directed at Jade.

"Maybe?" she replied.

"Let me reintroduce myself." Isaac stated. "My name is Isaac Bebe, son of Zeus."

"Prove it." Jade challenged.

Isaac disappeared.

"Where'd he go?!" Alena gasped.

Across the dark, wet street, a bolt of lightning hit, and Isaac stood there. "Unfortunately, that's all I can do. Weakest son of Zeus in centuries."

He zapped back across to Jade and Alena. "Believe me yet?"

Neither replied, probably just processing that they were face to face with a half-god.

"Um, I'm Alena Brandi, daughter of Carmela Brandi?"

"Your father hey…" Isaac replied thoughtfully. "Well, we better get going. Coming?"

Alena shook her head. "My mother probably would freak. I'm already, like, an hour late."

"I'm out too." Jade put in.

Isaac just shoved his hands in his pockets. "Guys, look, you don't really have a choice. Do want another monster to come and kill you? I won't be around then, I can guarantee it."

 _How can we trust him?_ Jade thought. _We only just met._

Jade could see that Alena was starting to agree with the creep.

"Alena!" she said. "You can't be considering this! How many people around our age have disappeared around here? Haven't you heard of Derek Ferne?"

Isaac smiled. "Derek Ferne. Nice guy."

Jade's face darkened. "You knew him?"

"Know him." Corrected Isaac. "He's where we're going."

Jade could feel herself being won over. But she didn't want to go with him. "Where did you take him?! Mr. Ferne is distraught! He already lost his wife!"

"Demeter." Isaac said simply. "Derek, son of Demeter. Jade, what school do you go to?"

Jade felt taken back. "I'm home-schooled."

"What does your carer teach you?"

"Aunt Lecky?" Jade frowned. "What business have you got with her?"

"Just what she teaches you." Isaac replied. "Nothing more, nothing less. I swear on the Styx."

Thunder boomed overhead, making both girls jump, they didn't really notice the funny choice of words.

"You don't like lightning do you?" Isaac questioned curiously.

Alena nodded. "Not at all."

Jade decided to answer Isaac's other question instead. "Aunt Lecky teaches me the basic, and archery. I used to do fencing, but I dropped it when Aunt Lecky broke her arm."

Isaac looked intrigued with the new information. "That's interesting. But seriously, we need to go. Take my hands."

Jade looked at him sceptically. "You're gonna do that teleport thingy, aren't you."

He nodded. "It will get us there much faster than walking."

Alena put her hand in his, and Jade just put her hand on his shoulder.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Nope." Both replied.

* * *

 **So, how did you like this chapter? No one reviewed or anything, so I'm changing the summary to make it more interesting.**

 **Please review! Every author loves feedback!**

 **~the Oracle of Akemi~**


	3. Chapter 3- Camp?

Chapter Three- Camp?

A sudden jolt of energy ran through Alena's body, and no doubt Jade felt it too. The street disappeared and was later replaced by green fields of strawberries. To the left was a long, grey road that faded into the distance and to the right, thick green woods that you couldn't see the end to.

Alena could only just make out the edges of a faded arch that was sheltered in the woods.

"If you would just follow me, there is just one more thing I need to do." Isaac spoke up. "Y'see, I was only expecting one, but I got two, so I have to make sure I'm right."

Alena had no idea what he was on about, but she decided to play along. "Ah, okay."

Jade had been silent the whole time, and only decided to speak when they were standing were standing directly in front of the arch.

"Where are we?" she asked. "I want to know."

Isaac ignored her. The way he did that to both of them was really starting to grind Alena's nerves.

"If you both would just step through here please." He directed, stepping through himself, disappearing.

"Woah!" Alena recoiled in shock, her body an inch away from following the so called demigod.

Isaac reappeared. "Hurry up. Everyone's been dying to meet you."

Alena shook her head in disbelief. "You're alive. You weren't abducted by aliens."

She stepped through and was welcomed by a pleasant tingly feeling that faded within seconds. The woods that had been on the opposite side of the arch had faded away to reveal a camp full of teenagers, bustling around, and hacking at dummies or carting around weaponry and armour.

"Wow…" Jade's soft voice penetrated the silence of Alena's mind blown mind.

"It looks like there's going to be a war!" Alena said jokingly.

Isaac rubbed the back of his neck. "Now, this is where it gets awkward. You were too powerful to leave out there defenceless, so we had no choice but to bring you here. But the sad thing is, we are just about to enter war with the Romans."

"So there are Romans as well!" gasped Alena. "What about Egyptians? Norse?"

"Yes, there are Romans. The Egyptian gods and Norse gods though… no." Isaac answered.

"How long until the battle?" Jade asked softly.

"A few weeks." Isaac frowned. "And after that, the Earth will end…"

"You're joking right?" Alena demanded.

"No not really." The son of Zeus replied. "There are two options- one, the Romans and Greeks, us, go to war, and one side triumphs over the other. The winning side is then destroyed by Mother Earth, Gaea who will continue to wipe out the world. Two, the Romans and Greeks will unite, which the Seven of the Great Prophecy are aiming to do, and put Gaea back to sleep for good."

"Yep, we came at the worst possible time." Jade grinned, which looked kind of strange Alena thought. "Certain death, left and right."

Alena frowned. So she was going to die? No, that couldn't be right.

"Let's get you introduced shall we?" Isaac announced, breaking the awkward tension, taking a step towards the bustling camp.

"Wait!" a voice called.

Alena turned around in shock. A woman, who seemed to be made of nothing more than air stood there, a look of urgency on her pretty face.

"Chiron does not want you to take the demigod, um, demigods now." She continued, hugging her belly.

Alena did a double take. The air woman appeared to be heavily pregnant.

"Why Mellie?" Isaac asked, obviously this wasn't part of his plan.

"Chiron doesn't want the new demigods to communicate with many of us Greeks, he thinks that if we can transport them to the enemy camp before they attack, they could serve as valuable spies for us." The woman, Mellie explained. "They might even be able to help convince the Romans to aid us against Gaea."

Isaac nodded. "That actually makes sense. Who'll accompany them?"

"You of course!"

"Me…" Isaac didn't look very confident, Alena noted. "I'm the weakest son of Zeus in history! Why me?"

Mellie shrugged. "I don't know. But would you?"

Isaac shrugged. "Fine."

"Here is some money, drachmas, ambrosia and nectar and some other necessities." Mellie announced, giving Isaac a small dark blue back pack. "Chiron advises you to take mortal transport. The Romans have good energy sensors."

"Excuse me!" Jade broke in. "Do we have a say in this?"

Mellie shook her head. "I'm afraid not, young one."

Alena felt like giggling when she saw Jade's face at that statement.

"May your journey go well!" Mellie waved before disappearing into thin air.

"Sooo…" Alena said awkwardly. "Where are we going?"

"To California." Isaac replied.

Alena's jaw hit the floor. "What!?"

"California." Isaac repeated. "That's where the Roman camp is. I'll be teleporting us back to town, and then we'll catch a plane."

Alena turned white. "No. No planes."

Jade nodded vigorously. "I hate heights!"

Isaac frowned. "Train then. Hold my shoulders."

This time, the two girls didn't argue. They were two weirded out by what had transpired in the past hour.

 _The girl from my dream sat next to me on the bus. She and I were stalked. Isaac Bebe insulted my teacher. My teacher turned into an ugly vampire man. Mr. Clampire died. Isaac was a son of Zeus. He teleported us to a camp for freaks. Air lady, Mellie, told us that we had to go to California which is a long way from my house, and now... Here we are._ Alena checked off everything that had happened in her head.

"We'll get on the next train." Announced Isaac with authority when they arrived at the train station.

Alena nodded dumbly, she didn't care anymore what they did.

Isaac talked to the train man and snapped his fingers a few times. For some reason, the man let them all get on the train cheaply, and didn't seem to care that the three of them were not accompanied by an adult. Alena found that very strange.

 _But then again, this is all very strange._ Alena reminded herself. She was soon pulled into slumber by the clicking of the train against the rails. It had been such a long day…

* * *

Jade saw Alena fall asleep, but it wasn't very long until she did too…

 _Jade was in a dark hallway, there were no lights at all._

 _"_ _What do you mean you lost her?!" demanded a male voice that sounded eerily like… Mr. Clampire._

 _"_ _I didn't mean to my lord!" a screechy bat-like voice replied, its voice laced with fear._

 _The man growled. "Argh!"_

 _Jade creeped closer to the voices, and the corridor widened into a dimly lit room. The voices were in the far right corner of the room, and Jade decided to see how close she could get._

 _"_ _I'm sorry!" the bat voice cried. "I didn't think… she wasn't…"_

 _"_ _Stop…" growled the man. "We have company."_

 _Jade froze. They knew she was there!_

 _"_ _What do we do my lord?" asked the bat voice._

 _"_ _Nothing." The man replied. "Just let our eavesdropper be."_

 _Jade sighed in relief that the man wasn't going to kill her. The dream rippled before disappearing._

 _The second dream was of a woman, her long black flowing beautifully in the wind. She had her eyes closed and as she sighed softly she opened them, revealing forest green orbs._

 _"_ _Soon…"_

 _The third dream was the worst one, Jade decided. It showed two boys who looked about seventeen on horses, one black with large, feathery wings and the other seemed to be made out of electricity._

 _Both had golden eyes and vicious sneers on their handsome faces. They also both had swords drawn._

 _On the ground near their feet, a blond girl propped herself up on her elbows. "Don't!"_

 _The boys ignored her, and their horses reared before thundering towards each other…_

Jade woke with a short intake of breath. She noticed Alena was still fast asleep, but Isaac was staring out the window, into the darkness. Occasionally his lips would move, as if he was having a conversation with an imaginary friend.

Jade understood completely. When she was younger, she had some imaginary friends called Zoë and Bianca. Aunt Lecky had always talked to the three of them, but whenever someone else came to visit, Jade's friends went unnoticed.

As Jade entered primary school she learnt it was not okay to talk to yourself and Aunt Lecky decided that Jade should not talk to Bianca and Zoë.

Jade trusted her Aunt, so after apologising to her friends, she never spoke to her imaginary pals again. Unfortunately, that did not stop Jade from being bullied so Aunt Lecky took Jade out of the school and together they seemed to disappear into thin air. Jade often wondered why the two never saw the postman again.

Jade observed the son of Zeus for a while before deciding to reveal that she was awake. "Are we almost there?"

Isaac startled, and his head hit the cold, frost bitten window, making a sick thumping noise. He rubbed his head and glared at Jade. "That's gonna bruise! Don't scare me like that!"

"Huh?" Alena's sleepy voice said. "What's going on?"

Isaac didn't stop glaring at Jade. "Jade was just asking me whether we were almost there or not. We should be at our first stop soon."

Jade nodded. "That's good."

"Did either of you have strange dreams?" asked Alena. "I for one sure did!"

"I didn't sleep." Isaac answered stiffly.

Jade frowned. "Not really, just the normal stuff."

Isaac gave her _that look_ that meant that he didn't believe her, but thankfully the son of Zeus didn't reply.

"So, when do we find out who my father is?" Alena asked curiously. "You said it had to be my father right?"

Isaac nodded. "You lived with your mother, and gods aren't allowed to communicate directly with their offspring. Alena, I'm sorry but the gods aren't claiming any of their children at the moment, with the war fast approaching."

Alena's face fell. "Oh."

"Until after the war, I doubt any new demigods will be claimed." Isaac added. "After, maybe… If you survive."

Jade noticed Alena visibly gulp.

"For now, you two are the unclaimed Roman demigods." Isaac finished.

Jade and Alena nodded, they didn't really have another choice.

"What about weapons?" asked Jade, eager for a change of subject. "Didn't you say that monsters would attack us?"

Isaac nodded. "Monsters are attracted to our scent-" (Alena sniffed her armpit) "-and can easily track us through use of technology."

"Oh, so that's why you ruined my phone!" Alena gasped. "Still though, it wasn't very nice."

Isaac shrugged.

"Weapons?" Jade reminded.

"Right. You'll have to rely on me to defend you from monsters until we get to the Roman camp for a few reasons. One, there is no place to get weapons near here, as we just left Camp Half-Blood. Two, if we gave you a weapon before we left, and you grew attached, you'd be sad when you had to dump it, because Romans use different materials in their weapons, if you showed up with a celestial bronze sword it would be a dead giveaway you were Greek, and three, newbies who have no idea about the mythical world don't have weapons." Isaac explained.

Jade felt really annoyed that she had to rely on her stalker to protect her. After having her Aunt teach her self defense, it was difficult for her to just give up her independence like that.

Before Isaac could continue, the train manager announced that they would be arriving in less than ten minutes and that they should ready their possessions prior to getting off the train.

Jade grabbed her jacket off the seat (it had grown hot during the ride) and rose. "Let's go then?"

Alena and Isaac nodded.

As the train pulled to a stop outside a dimly lit station, Jade thought about how quickly her life had changed. And how she would be missing out on her Aunt Lecky's lamb roast.

* * *

 **So, that's a wrap.**

 **How did you like this chapter? Next chapter should have a bit of action in it even though I'm not very good at fight scenes.**

 **Please review, I'd appreciate it a lot.**

 **~the Oracle of Akemi~**


	4. Chapter 4- A Painfully Long Walk

Chapter Four- A Painfully Long Walk

"Are we almost there yet?" Alena whined, dragging her feet along the gum covered pathway. "We've been walking for hours! Why aren't we there yet?"

Isaac groaned. "Hey, we've only been walking for fifteen minutes! I get that you want to get there already, but we can't get to the Roman camp in half an hour. The only way to do that would be to let me take us all there, but that would completely blow our cover and this entire trip would be for nothing!"

Alena frowned. She knew that Isaac was right but she just wanted to get there. Alena had always been impatient. She glanced quickly at Jade, who once again had pulled her hoodie up over her face. The other girl was walking quietly along the footpath, not looking at either of her companions. Whenever possible, Jade would try to blend in with the shadows, as if to try and attract less attention.

 _She's mighty fine at it too…_ thought Alena. _All that black makes her seem almost invisible at times._

As if Fate wanted to spite them (the Fates didn't actually want to, they were busy inconveniencing the Seven of the Prophecy, but Alena didn't know that.) a sudden howl interrupted the silence of the trio.

Isaac immediately drew his sword. "Crap. Hellhounds."

"But there are people around!" Alena protested. "You can't use a sword."

"The Mist will stop the mortals from seeing this. With luck all they will see is a teenage boy brutally murdering a puppy with a fork." Isaac replied, eyes darting around, trying spot the hellhounds before they attacked.

"Yeah…" Alena replied sarcastically. "Cause that's so much better."

"Are these things like that vampire?" Jade asked.

Isaac nodded. "You could say that."

"So they're dangerous, and we're relying on you." Jade looked doubtful.

Isaac couldn't reply as the first hellhound decided to make itself known to the trio. It was large with intimidating red eyes and coarse black fur.

Alena gulped. "Yep, we're relying on you Isaac! Don't let it kill us!"

Two more hellhounds emerged from the shadows, they weren't as large as the first, but they still made Alena want to wet herself in fear.

The first hellhound howled again, and lunged at Isaac.

Isaac readied his sword, a determined glint in his eyes.

The other two hellhounds jumped at Alena and Jade.

Alena shrieked as she fell to the ground. "Oh my Gods I'm going to die!"

The hellhound opened its massive jaws, and Alena squeezed her eyes shut. Suddenly, the soft feeling of monster dust brushed against her face. She opened her eyes tentatively to see Isaac standing over her with his sword.

"Get up." He said gruffly, before teleporting away to help Jade who was trying to keep the hellhound off her. Strangely, the hellhound wasn't trying to rip her head off, like Alena and Isaac's, but rather trying to separate her arms from her body.

The hellhound dissolved into golden dust as soon as Isaac removed its head. "Come on, they're all gone now, Jade."

"Took you long enough." Jade grumbled, looking unhappy. Alena didn't really blame her, after all, Isaac had made it sound like Jade was scared and weak like all stereotypical girls, however from what Alena had seen, Jade was not weak at all so why couldn't she-

"Why can't we get our own weapons?" Alena asked. "I know we don't have any real training-" ("Speak for yourself." Mumbled Jade.) "But surely we can be given something, a dagger, anything, so we can defend ourselves."

Isaac frowned. "I don't remember whether I explained this already, but monsters can only be killed by using certain materials, kind of like how mortals can't be injured at all by Olympian metals. The standard materials are Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold, for the Greeks and Romans respectively. Both are mined on Olympus so that explains why they work so well." He gestured to his sword. "This is Celestial Bronze."

"So my stuff wouldn't affect the monsters at all?" Jade asked sceptically.

Isaac nodded. "Yep. There's also Stygian Iron, but that's kind of an Underworld thing." He shuddered. "And you _do not_ want to go there. The Hunter's of Artemis, they're this crazy group of immortal teenage girls who hunt monsters and camp, like, twenty four seven, they use this blessed silver."

"It sounds like fun actually." Jade said.

"What?" Alena asked.

"The Hunters of Artemis." Jade replied. "I mean, immortality and having _sisters?!_ It would be amazing. You would just be so free…"

"Nuh uh." Isaac replied. "Sorry Jade, but the Hunter's aren't an option. You're needed at the Roman camp."

"But still, maybe I-" this was the first time Alena had seen Jade particularly motivated about anything, so it wasn't very nice of Isaac to shoot her down like that.

"No. Even if we weren't about to go to war," Isaac said grumpily. "There is no reason why you should join the Hunters of Artemis. My half-sister joined a couple of years ago and she's never been the same since. Plus, you have to swear off men, forever."

Jade frowned, but didn't protest. Alena was glad that the mysterious girl had dropped the issue, after all, the son of Zeus was in charge of keeping the two girls safe, and if he was angered… he might accidentally forget to save them next time they were attacked.

Alena shook her head. No, Isaac wasn't the type to endanger the lives of others, just because of a petty argument.

Isaac seemed pleased with himself, as he had turned Jade off the idea of joining the Hunters. "Point is, it's not just because of lack of experience," Isaac continued. "It's just that if we show up at the Roman camp with weapons, our cover is blown. It's the same reason as why we can't just teleport there."

Alena frowned. "Aw, but Isaac! You have a weapon!"

"I know that." He replied. "But we can't just wander around the streets without any way to protect ourselves! But don't worry, I'll dispose of it before we get there." the son of Zeus mumbled something that Alena couldn't make out.

"Fine…" she mumbled.

Jade had heard what Isaac had said.

" _Even though Astrapí and I have been through so much, they're still gonna make me leave her behind…"_ he had sounded quite bitter about it, and even though Isaac had assured the two he was fine with it multiple times after receiving the quick briefing from Mellie, sometimes Jade wondered why he was doing this. He had a family of his own, and friends, so why would he be going across the country for the two of them? And now he had to leave one of his prized possessions behind…?

A sudden gust of wind blew Jade's hoody off. She wondered whether her Aunt had noticed her disappearance, and whether she was worried. This made Jade feel slightly guilty, but Isaac had insisted that if they didn't do this the world would end and she'd never see her Aunt again.

Jade felt the eyes of people as they passed by. All the attention was making the home schooler uncomfortable, so she flipped up her hoody and edged instinctively back into the shadows. Now most of those prying gazes swept over her, but there were still two- that comfortable, guardian angel type gaze and that intimidating gaze that was as constant as the earth itself.

The trio walked in uncomfortable silence for hours, only stopping for a cheap meal in the late afternoon, and there were no other monster attacks.

"Don't you think it's odd?" Jade questioned Alena and Isaac, but mainly Isaac. "You said that the monsters are attracted to our… scent, right? So why have no other monsters attacked us? We've been travelling so wouldn't we be spreading our scent?"

Isaac looked uncomfortable at the questions Jade was firing of. "L-look, I don't know everything okay? Maybe there's another demigod out there that they're more interested in?"

Alena, however, seemed more open to Jade's worries. "You're right. I really hope they're not planning anything…"

Jade's mind went immediately to the knife her Aunt Lecky had insisted she carry whenever she left the Willow property. It was stored in her boot, separate to where her foot was but easily within reach. If they were attacked by mortals, she thought smugly, then Isaac would be relying on her years of self-defence lessons, as his weapon would be useless.

By now it was getting late, and Alena was complaining more than usual. Isaac was also getting tired, because Jade often caught him falling behind.

"Are you okay?" Alena asked, she had obviously noticed as well.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Isaac replied, although he had a distracted look on his face.

Jade nodded, not fooled at all. "Yeah, right…"

"Why don't we stop for the night at a hotel or something?" Alena suggested. "That way we can be all rested for tomorrow."

The son of Zeus shook his head. "No, we can't. It's too dangerous to sleep in a hotel. Monsters could attack us. Not only would we be in danger but the mortals as well."

"Oh…" Alena said disappointedly.

"You can't expect us to keep walking throughout the night, can you?" Jade said incredulously. "If monsters were too attack us, we'd probably die because you're so tired you're practically falling asleep where you stand."

Isaac looked terrible, he had bags under his eyes and every now and again he would stumble slightly. However, his pride was what stood between him and a rest. "No." he said again, stubbornly. "We're getting so close to Camp Jupiter! The sooner we get there, the safer and more comfortable we'll be."

"But…" Jade and Isaac argued for a couple more minutes before the claimed demigod relented. However, it was under the agreement that they would use as little money as possible and they would leave wherever they chose to stay first thing in the morning.

The trio checked into a small and cheap hotel by seven o'clock. The woman at the welcoming desk had not asked to see any identification, and did not ask any questions about why three teenagers were wandering around the streets of California and checking into a hotel without any supervision whatsoever. The woman- Lorie, if her name tag was to be believed- told them that they were free to order one meal but had to pay for anything extra, and that every night spent there was twenty nine dollars per person.

They had been given two rooms, the girls would room together in room 26 and Isaac (room 28) by himself.

Jade and Alena were told by Isaac to go get settled in while he ordered something for them all as dinner. Alena obliged happily, and while Jade was more hesitant, she didn't disagree. Dinner went by in a blur. All three of them had had much better meals in the past, the hotel's food was served by a creepy looking man and some of the things on Jade's plate tasted weird, but they all were grateful for the care they were getting. The only alternative would be to sleep on the streets, and despite Isaac's claims that demigods rough it all the time, none of them wanted to be in the position where anything, monster or mortal, could put them in danger.

Alena finished her meal with a soft burp, making Jade wince at her table manners. Jade herself had long ago finished eating, leaving some things left on her plate. Isaac had barely eaten a thing, less than Jade, which was certainly saying something, but reassured his companions that he just wasn't hungry.

The three then went back to their rooms, incredibly eager for beds, however comfortable they might be.

"I'll see you girls first thing in the morning." Isaac said as Jade an Alena prepared their things for bed. None of them had pyjamas, so they would just have to sleep in their dirty clothes after taking a quick shower.

"Yep." Alena said cheerfully, although her eyes revealed the exhaustion she was feeling.

"Whatever, just let me sleep." Jade replied. She wasn't feeling one hundred percent. It was probably the food, some of it was new to her, and Jade had a sensitive stomach at the most inconvenient of times.

The three went their separate ways, to their separate beds. Jade collapsed on hers with a sigh. Sure enough, the mattress was lumpy and not at all like the one she had at home but the unclaimed demigoddess was too tired to even give it a second thought.

The last thing she thought before Morpheus claimed her was _"Tomorrow has to be better."_

She couldn't have been more wrong.

* * *

 **Chapter four of Only Two! I hope you enjoyed this. Many thanks to my sole reviewer** **I told you I'd update today! Thanks for giving me that extra push to finish this chapter!**

 **Please review,**

 **~the Oracle of Akemi~**


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